Japan - Team Profile

It was a disappointing debut at France ‘98, with three defeats, but there has been progress since

Japan players huddle during a send-off ceremony for the World Cup in Tokyo on May 25th. Photograph: Toru Hanai / Reuters

Manager: Alberto Zaccheroni

Best finish: Second rounds (2002, 2010)

World Cup record: P 17, W 4, D 4, L 9

History

It was a disappointing debut at France ‘98, with three defeats, but there has been progress since. A second-round finish in 2002 was a qualified success. They failed to make it out of the group stages in Germany, but made the second round again in their fourth consecutive World Cup in South Africa, beating Denmark and Cameroon before losing to Paraguay on penalties in the last 16.

Whiteboard

The Asian champions qualified for Brazil with a settled, experienced 4-2-3-1. The creativity is in the three, where AC Milan’s Keisuke Honda dictates from the middle and Man United’s Shinji Kagawa and Mainz’s Shinji Okazaki (38 goals) support a lone striker. The midfield is anchored by Makoto Hasebe. Full-backs Atsuto Uchida and Yuto Nagatomo offer forward momentum.

All Star - Keisuke Honda

Nobody can read this guy’s name without belching out a bunch of ‘engine’ puns but fear not, we’ll steer clear. Honda could hold the keys to Japan’s tournament. The Milan man is by common accord an integral part of their make-up as he shuttles between the lines directing attacks. With 20 goals in 56 caps he’s already a legend and when he’s standing over a deadball it often serves as a prelude to something special.

Despite being a cohesive attacking unit there were results in the qualifiers that hinted at an underlying fragility, defeats to North Korea, Uzbekistan and Jordan. They’ve drawn with the Netherlands (2-2) and beaten the highly-rated Belgians (2-3) in friendlies, but their consistency. or lack of it, may let them down inGroup C, against Ivory Coast, Colombia and Greece.

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